Are You A Good Listener?

I came across another interesting point in this book that I'm reading. David J. Schwartz, Ph.D. states that after he performed hundreds of interviews with people at all levels he discovered that "The bigger the person, the more apt he is to encourage you to talk; the smaller the person, the more apt he is to preach to you". He goes on to say "Big people monopolize the listening." and "Small people monopolize the talking."

When I read these words I had another light bulb moment. I have worked in a large family owned optometry office for 12 years. The original owner, whom is now 10 months into his retirement, was always one for asking questions. There have been numerous times when he has asked my opinion on a business decision. He would ask the question, wait for the answer, and then ask "why?" or "what about.....". I always wondered why he was asking me. He has always been known as the "go to" guy when somebody had a business question or if they were looking for guidance when opening a new practice. I know of people calling on him from Lake City, Jacksonville, Ft Lauderdale, and even Tampa. This man is a true master of his craft, running successful optometry practices. It helps that he is a good doctor too, but I think his true passion is business. I bet if I asked him what he thought of Schwartz's theory that "Big people monopolize the listening" without a doubt he would agree fully.

It seems as though the truly successful are more willing to listen to others. They take the ideas generated by other people and cultivate them into their own. Schwartz later says that the "Ideas of others help to spark your own ideas so your mind is more creative".

This proves another point. Successful people are always willing to learn more. While the less successful are the ones who think they already know all there is to know. We've all met someone who seems to know everything about anything. We listen while they talk for a while and soon our brains start humming as we are put into a trance by all their "preaching". Lets all make an effort not to be "that" person. Lets remember to ask questions and actually listen to the answers. We can then take those answers and come up with our own creative ideas. This will turn us in the right direction for happy successful lives.